Now You See Me (2013)

Directed by: Louis Leterrier

Written by: Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin & Edward Ricourt

After four magicians pull off a bank heist during their shows, both FBI and Interpol are trying to catch them.

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I've wanted to see Now You See Me since I saw a GIF-set from the beginning of the movie. In the scene Jesse Eisenberg's character does a magic trick with a cards, and even through few GIFs the trick works, and that blew my mind. Another reason was that I saw the trailer for the sequel, and I wanted to see that, but didn't catch it at the theatre.

The cast of Now You See Me is excellent, and that's the first thing I noticed even before seeing the movie. All the actors and actresses are well known, and while they quickly feel like a weird combination, they all work well together. For example it's always a joy to see Woody Harrelson in a movie - if the movie is good, that is, because I've had enough disappointments with movies he was in.

While the cast is amazing, the characters are even more awesome, and every actor does their job wonderfully and with skill. In the beginning you very quickly learn the basics about the four magicians, but towards the end they don't have so many lines and it's mostly about the FBI and the Interpol trying to catch them, but during that short while you are introduced to four interesting characters, and while I think there's much more to know about them, I am content with what this film offered me. While it's easier to root for the magicians, Mark Ruffalo and Mélanie Laurent's characters also turn out to be more  than two-dimensional Lawful Good characters what we are used to in a crime mystery movies where the criminals seem to be more like heroes. 

The plot of his movie is sensational and clever. It sweeps you off your feet right in the beginning: you see characters and you want to know what that mysterious party wants with them. And as the movie goes on the plot just keeps getting bigger and bigger, larger than you'd think. The film is full of delicious plot twist, and each and every one of those work instead of just being there to confuse the audience. Now You See Me is like a magic trick, with misdirection and all.

But this film was so great and well written I'm pretty skeptical about the sequel. How could it be as good, because how could they introduce just as amazing plot twists? Also it never feels good when a director changes between two movies. I'm not familiar with Jon M. Chu, but comparing his filmography with Louis Leterrier's makes me a tiny bit suspicious. But still, I wouldn't want to miss out on Now You See Me 2. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10